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The UK information and communications technology (ICT) market opportunity is incredibly strong and analysts predict further growth over the next five years.
While there’s no universal definition for ICT, it broadly covers all the technology we use to interact digitally.
That includes things like the infrastructure, applications, networks, software and devices that allow us to connect and communicate.
The UK holds the largest ICT market in Europe, with over a fifth of the total, overall European ICT market. Source – compubase.net. The industry with the most growth within the ICT sector is telecoms.
There’s no doubt that telecoms is thriving, but hangovers from the past mean that some pure IT service providers haven’t made the leap into comms yet.
As well as missing out on revenue opportunities, there’s a growing expectation from customers that they can buy all their business technology solutions from a single service provider.
In this blog, I consider why the IT and telecoms industries have operated separately for so long, and why now is the perfect time for IT players to make moves in the comms space.
this blog is helpful for
- Managed service providers (MSPs) and IT resellers who want to learn how to increase revenue through connectivity and cloud-based phone systems
ICT market opportunity predictions 2024 – 2028
Within the ICT sector, the telecoms industry holds a substantial market share. Analysts expect that trend to continue over the next 5 years.
Increasing government investment in sustaining high-end, maintained and advanced infrastructures and proper implementation of various enhancement and modernisation projects are fueling the country’s market expansion.
Source: United Kingdom ICT market & share analysis – growth trends and forecast (2023 – 2028)
why were the IT and telecoms industries separate for so long?
For decades, the IT and telecommunications industries existed separately. That separation was down to historical and technical factors.
The ‘communication’ aspect of ICT was previously handled in the telecoms industry. It used different technology, primarily Openreach’s copper infrastructure – the copper-based network that served the UK for over a century.
Because of this, telecoms relied on people with specific skillsets; back then, selling, supporting and billing telecoms was very different from IT.
why did the IT and telecoms industries converge?
These days, pretty much everything related to communication is digital, and most connectivity and voice services, like broadband and calls, are handled over internet protocol (IP).
Openreach’s old copper network will be obsolete by 2025. This deadline is creating a high, explicit demand for customers to buy digital replacement solutions.
This has resulted in the development of unified communication systems, voice-over internet protocol (VoIP) solutions, and the integration of telephony services with IT infrastructure.
In recent years, the convergence of IT and telecom has been accelerated with the rise of cloud computing, mobile technology, and digital transformation initiatives, including those led by the government.
The boundaries between the two industries continue to blur as technologies and market dynamics evolve.
the ICT market opportunity
eve Networks can help MSPs and IT resellers increase revenue by adding voice and connectivity to their customer offering.
With a solid background in telecoms, we know how to spot opportunities and can train and support your teams to confidently market, sell and support eve Voice and eve Connect. We’re a team with backgrounds in both traditional telecoms and MSPs, so we know how both sides work and how to get the best of the future shift in what customers want and expect.
